1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming method, an image forming device, and a light-irradiation-fusible toner set.
2. Related Art
In an electrophotographic image forming method and an electrophotographic image forming device, a heat roll fusing system is employed as a toner image fixing method. In this heat roll fusing system, a printed material, such as paper on which an image has been formed by a toner, is passed between heat rolls, and the toner image on the printed matter is fixed by applying heat and pressure from the heat rolls.
In contrast, as a non-contact fusing system, a fixing method has been used in which a toner that forms a toner image on a receiving body (recording sheet or the like) is fixed by heating and melting. In a technique applied to the non-contact fusing system, a fusing device is used in which a flash lamp is provided so that the flash lamp faces a conveyance path of a receiving body, and an intermittent light is applied by the flash lamp to heat and melt a toner on the receiving body while it is being conveyed. In the fusing system using a flash lamp, various types of paper can be used and high speed fixing can be easily achieved due to a non-contact system, as compared to the heat roll fusing system.
With a recent reduction in price and increase in output of a semiconductor laser, a fusing system using a high-output semiconductor laser in place of a flash lamp has been tested, and it is thought that semiconductor lasers could replace flash lamps as a light source for fusing.